Boot applicator for universal joints



1952 LE ROY E. ENDICOTT 2, 1

BOOT APPLICATOR FOR UNIVERSAL JOINTS Filed Oct. 26, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheetl Novfl's, 1952 LE ROY E. ENDICOTT BOOT APPLICATOR FOR UNIVERSAL JOINTS3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 26, 1948 INVENTOR. lezy E ideal: M yn/a Nov.18, 1952 LE ROY E. ENDICOTT BOOT APPLICATOR FOR UNIVERSAL JOINTS :5Shets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 26, 1948 INVENTQR. e@/ BY Patented Nov. 18,1952

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFF '.2,c1s,0s1 BOOT .APPLICATOR FoeunmnnsanJomi-rs Leno; E. .Endicott, Pullman. Wash. Application October'26, 194 8, tSeriaI 'N 0. 5.6511

present inventionrelatesstoimprovements ina bootapplicatorefor universaljoints.

: Theinvention relates. generally to universal. joints such as are usedat the endsof the trans-.- missionshaft in an. automobile. Universal.joints areprovided at both ends of the transmission shaft and oneelastic .boot isused-to prevent dirt andqothersioreign.matterfromentering the universal joint and. to keep. lubricant. from. escapingfrom....the. ioint.

.:The.elastic boot towhlchl .referand the way it'fitsithe universal.iointv canbe seen. in the Hagerty. Patent. No. 2,308,073.

Ithasbeen the practice,.so .far asI am aware, toapply boot..hy-..dismantling. the universal joints This.is;.of course, notdiflicultwhen the.

boot is'..anpl d atthetime. thev universal joint iszfirst assembled.with the. transmission shaft. Howevenwhen a..boot.must-..be replaced orapplied. in. the. place Of'the laced on .typeof covering, after the.transmission shaftis. assembled ini'thevehicle, the matter of taking.the univer-. sad joint apart. is very difficult.

the principal purpose of .my invention to provide a simple tool wherebythe boot may be applied to the universal joint without taking the jointapart or separatin it from the shaft. The device is not limited to thisparticular use, but is applicable wherever it is essential to spread anelastic boot and force it over an enlarged head into the position itmust ultimately occupy.

My invention contemplates an applicator of this character comprising twoflanged plates pivoted together and having arms extending therefrom, inproximityto each other when the plates-arein one position, andspreadable apart when the elastic boot-is placed on the arms to expandthe boot and pass it over the flanged plates, the plates having guidesurfaces projecting from the flanges to direct the expanded boot axiallyof the pivot of the plates.

The nature and advantages of my invention will appear more fully fromthe following description and the accompanying drawings wherein apreferred form of the invention is shown. It should be understoodhowever, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and arenot to be considered as limiting the invention except insofar as it islimited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the applicator with the bootshown thereon in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1;

. 2 fi re 3 tea s otional ew on: the line-3w; of Figure 1;.

Figure. 4 is. a face view looking in the am direction asv Figure 1 ofthe apnlicatorssnowine; a..boot thereon partially spread-over theflanged end of theuniversal jointi;

. Figurefi isan edg view f the apnlioatorshow ingthe advancing. edge.of, the vlocnatfinid the uide urfa es. o t app i t a the boot appoaches.- released position; v

Figure 6 is a facevlew like Eigure 4 -but. looks. ins. inhe oppo t drection; and;

Fi ur is a. s ct onal; view. through the; ni-

versal joint showing the boot in place. v

. R e na owx o e d awin s.tnexapplicator which. em my nv t on is;formedyoftwo. sheet m tal plat s!!! an all. which-plates are hin ed toger b a pivotp n 1-2... The ofthe plates l0 an l ,l is suphas. to.providefor their u g about he. p vot. p n 1.2.;to; spread the, arms l3and H in order to. stre ohan elastic boot l5 and cause it to pass overthe. plates. 1.0. and II. The plate II has a flange l6l integral,therewith and extending around. the edg of plate at" a uniform distancefrom the: center, of pivot p n throu h .sfi hflxmore -than aquarter ofcircle. Theflangethenstraiahtens. and is bent over to form. withaniextensionzofz plate, t rm 13. .A iaoenttothe l-fiiitne; flange a interal lliderprojection 11.- thereon. The projection L1 :rounded; and-eta:-pered as. shownto a. blunt end. The guidesine.- faceextends inan axialdirectionwitlr resnent: to the. p v t pin l2. approaching. theaxiserr-the. ivot pin asit recedesfromptheflangel 6..

The p e In is also'flangedover as indicaied; 18 toform a,-substantia1:.Vrshaped guide jection [9, which extends in the samedirection as the projection l1 and which is curved to provide a convexguide surface. Inside the flange I8, a rib 20 is built up to cooperatewith the flange [6 in holding the applicator on the flanged head of theuniversal joint. The plate I0 and the flange 18 are extended to form thearm I4 and a handle 2| is provided on the arm H to give the necessaryleverage for the applicator.

The plate H has a pin 22 thereon positioned to engage in one of themounting bolt holes on the flange of the universal joint. It will beobvious from Figures 3, 5, 6, and '7 that the universal joint to whichthe boot is applied has a substantially circular flanged end 23 whichhas bolt holes 24 for attaching it to a complementary flange on thedriving or driven member to which the joint is to be attached. Theflanged head 23 is integral with a shell portion 25 of the universaljoint. The shell portion has a neck 26 over which the boot I is securedwhen it is in place. Inside the shell two channels 21 and 28 areprovided for ball members 29 and 30 that are carried on a pin 3| whichin turn is secured in the head 32 of the transmission shaft 33. Thetransmission shaft has a shoulder at 34 with a surface 35.0n which theboot l5 fits. .r

In operation the applicator is first placed in the position shown inFigure 3 with the pin 22 inserted in one of the apertures 34 of theflanged end 23. The arms I3 and I4 have to be spread apart so that theflanges I6 and. l'8engage 'over the flanged end 23. The arms l3 and Mare then brought together and the boot I5 is placed over them asindicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1. The transmission shaft ismounted in a vice .or

otherwise held against movement and the arms l3 and [4 are spread apartby applying pressure to the handle 2 I As the arms spread they force theboot down against the back surfaces of the plates 10 and H and theouter'surface of the projections IT and I9. These projections start theadvancing end of the boot l5 toward its ultimate position. As thespreading of" the arms l3 and It continues, the boot is stretched asindicated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 until finally it slides over the flangedend 23 when the resilience thereof will cause it to move lengthwise overthe shell 25 and onto the shaft 33. It is then a simple matter to fitthe flanges at the ends of the boot around the portions 26 and 35 andthe boot is in place.

. The universal joint is, of course, cleaned and filled with greasebefore applying the boot and 1 can be completely packed with greaseafter the boot is in place. The boot itself and the surface of theapplicator are also greased before the boot is stretched in order thatthe parts will slip easily. All of the outer surface of the applicatorwith which the boot comes in contact are smoothed off and-preferablypolished so that the boot will slip readily.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An applicator tool for expanding and moving an elastic boot over aflanged head of a universal joint, said tool comprising two plateshaving portions thereof overlapped, pivot means pivotally connecting theoverlapped portions,

eral flange spaced outwardly from the pivot means, the flanges on saidplates being curved inward toward each other to seat over the flangedhead of a universal joint, an arm on each plate extending outwardly fromthe flange thereon, the

arms being movable into proximity to each other 4 by rotation of oneplate on the other plate to pass through an elastic boot together,whereby spreading the arms will expand the boot over the flanges and theflanged head.

2. An applicator tool for expanding and moving an elastic boot over aflanged head of a. universal joint, said tool comprising two plateshaving portions thereof overlapped, pivotmeans pivotally connecting theoverlapped portions, each plate having a laterally extending peripheralflange spaced outwardly from the pivot means, the flanges on said platesbeing curved inward toward each other to seat over the flanged head of auniversal joint, the flanges on said plates having tapered guideprojections extending away from the plateandtoward the axis of saidpivot means, an arm on each plate extending outwardly from the flangethereon, the arms bein movabl into proximity to each other by rotationof one plate on the other plate to pass through an elastic boottogether, whereby spreading the arms will expand the boot over theflanges and the flanged head;

3. An applicator tool for ing an elastic boot over a flanged headof :auniversal joint, said tool comprising two plates having portions thereofoverlapped, pivot means pivotally connecting the overlappe v portions,each plate having a laterally extending peripheral flangespacedoutwardly from the pivot means, the flanges on said platesbeingcurved inward toward each other to seat over the flanged head of auniversal joint, one of saidv plates having a pin projecting laterallytherefrom adjacent to the flange thereon for engaging an aperture in theflanged head, said flanges having tapered guide projections extendingaway from the plate and toward the axis of said pivot means, an arm oneach plate extending outwardly from the flange thereon, the arms beingmovable into proximity to each other by rotation of one plate on theother plate to pass through an elastic boot vtogether, whereby spreadingthe arms will expand 1 the boot over the flanges and the flanged head.

LE ROY E. ENDICOTT.

' flle of this patent: each plate having a laterally extending periph-1:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Feingold May'18, 1949 expanding and mov-

